“I said ‘I’ll go fight if there’s ever a war,’” chuckled Kaunov. “I never thought it would happen. I was sure there would be no invasion. I was thinking, ‘It’s the 21st century.’”In mid-March 2022, he joined. Leading 150 fresh recruits to defend a village east of Bakhmut, he would find himself blown up by a rocket as his unit was pulling back from Russia’s advance on the Donbas that May.A head injury meant rejoining infantry assaults was a no-go, but with drones, he could return to the fight.After spending around a year piloting mostly reconnaissance drones, Kaunov recognized the need for a more perfect guidance system. He assembled a wishlist of the best gear to put into a Ukrainian drone that would be meant for long-term, deep surveillance usage.